Ransomware is “SCARY” and there are new variants (types) created every day!

With the threat of ransomware attacks everyday it makes you wonder what can a small business do to protect themselves against this type of attacks. There are thing that you can do, there are solutions out there that can STOP, yes I said STOP most variants of the Ransom malware. NO SECURITY IS 100%, but doing nothing or doing the bare minimum (antivirus and firewall) will guarantee your RISKs are much HIGHER than adding a solution to STOP Ransom exploits all together.

On Nov 4 2016 the county of Madison Indiana was attacked by a Ransomware, and put them back over $200,000 to get them back up and running and to add safeguards to keep them protected. The attack was after the county decided to make expense cuts that increased their risks. By slacking on data security you become a prime target for all types of attacks. The ransome itself was only around $21,000 but the rest of it was all of the other support needed to get them back up and running.

Most companies just pay the ransom so they can just get back to business, but that isn’t the best approach either. There are many times that you never even get the “Key” to unlock the ransom, as James Trainor mentions in an article on the FBI’s website. “Paying a ransom doesn’t guarantee an organization that it will get its data back—we’ve seen cases where organizations never got a decryption key after having paid the ransom. Paying a ransom not only emboldens current cyber criminals to target more organizations, it also offers an incentive for other criminals to get involved in this type of illegal activity. And finally, by paying a ransom, an organization might inadvertently be funding other illicit activity associated with criminals.”

What to do to protect your organization from possible Ransom attacks.

Employee Security Awareness Training – Train your employees on what Ransomware is and what to look for to avoid it.

Use state-of-the-art Ransomware detection and prevention solutions – We offer a solution that has the ability to stop most variants of Ransomware. Read below

Have up to date antivirus and anti-malware solutions – make sure you antivirus and anti-malware is the most current

Patch all software (Adobe Reader, Java, MS Word, MS Excel…etc) – All software needs to be up to date and patched with the latest security patches.

Incident Response Plan – create a incident response plan and practice it, make sure you know who to call, when to call them and so on…

Disable auto Macros in all programs – Macros is one of the ways ransomware attacks a system.

Manage user access – not all users should have the same access to the same files, there should be limits which limits what the attackers can access.

Below is a tool we use to demonstrate how Ransomware can attack your system, it is a harmless software that simulates a ransomware attack to see if your system is vulnerable against a ransomware infection.

If you feel you need help with any of the testing or implementing safeguards to protect your organization against RANSOMWARE or any other attacks, please contact us TODAY!!!

How vulnerable is your network against ransom infections?

Bad guys are constantly coming out with new versions of ransomware strains to evade detection. Is your network eﬀective in blocking ransomware when employees fall for social engineering attacks?
We offer a Ransomware Simulator by KnowBe4 called “RanSim” gives you a quick look at the eﬀectiveness of your existing network protection. RanSim will simulate 10 ransomware infection scenarios and show you if a workstation is vulnerable to infection.

Here’s how RanSim works:

100% harmless simulation of a real ransomware infection

Does not use any of your own ﬁles

Tests 10 types of infection scenarios

Just download the install and run it

Results in a few minutes!

Three Steps To Getting Started

1. Ensure the workstation you are running is Windows 7 or higher, then download and install RanSim.

2. Click “Check Now” button. After clicking, RanSim will run ﬁve separate scenarios which will simulate diﬀerent types and methods of ransomware. The name and description of each scenario will be shown on the user interface.

3. After the simulations are completed, you’ll see results showing if your system is vulnerable or not, based on each of the ﬁve scenarios. You’ll also see a count of how many ﬁles would have been vulnerable if an actual ransomware attack had occurred.

To test your systems click the button below and see how well your network can stand up to a RANSOMWARE ATTACK!!!

If your test returns with failures, you are vulnerable to ransomware infection and you may need help, if that is the case call us today 317-939-3282

Are you at RISK of a security breach?

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